Vietnam U19 team won big against Laos in the farewell match of the U19 Southeast Asia tournament.
The Vietnam U19 team won 4-1 against Laos U19 in the final match of the Southeast Asian U19 tournament.
On the afternoon of July 24, the U19 Vietnam team had their final match against U19 Laos in the group stage of the U19 Southeast Asian Championship. Both teams were eliminated early, so the players will play a beautiful match before saying goodbye to the tournament.
In all aspects, U19 Vietnam is clearly rated higher in terms of both strength and achievements in the tournament. Victory is extremely necessary for coach Hua Hien Vinh and his team at this time, helping the players relieve the pressure from the last 2 matches, aiming for the 2025 U20 Asian qualifiers.
In the first minutes of the match, U19 Vietnam showed great determination and immediately invaded the U19 Laos field. In the 5th minute, from a not-so-dangerous situation, the U19 Laos goalkeeper rushed out indecisively, creating an opportunity for Le Dinh Long Vu (number 7) to take the ball and pass it to Hoang Anh to finish into the empty net to open the score of the match.
In the 22nd minute, Hoang Quang Dung continued to leave an impression with long-range shots. This young midfielder swung his leg from a distance of about 20 meters, sending the ball flying straight into the top corner. The Laos U19 goalkeeper jumped as far as he could but still could not stop the shot, raising the score to 2-0 for U19 Vietnam. This was Quang Dung's third goal in three consecutive matches, especially when all the situations in which he scored came from outside the penalty area.
While playing well, Coach Hua Hien Vinh's players made mistakes, something they could not overcome in the last 2 matches. In the 27th minute, Quoc Khanh passed the ball back too carelessly, Peter of U19 Laos rushed down to steal the ball, passed goalkeeper Dinh Hai and finished into the empty net, reducing the score to 1-2.
In the following minutes, U19 Vietnam continuously created many opportunities but all the good face-to-face chances were wasted by the players. Thai Ba Dat shot high into the sky in an open position, while Le Dinh Long Vu could not beat the opposing team's goalkeeper in a face-to-face situation in the 45th minute.
Entering the second half, the U19 Laos players played more slowly and steadily. This tactic caused the U19 Vietnam team to be completely stuck in the ball deployment phase. By the 70th minute, according to statistics from the organizing committee, the ball control rate of both sides was 50-50. This parameter shows that the U19 Vietnam team did not completely overwhelm the opponent. However, with a better technical foundation, the students of coach Hua Hien Vinh still knew how to solve the match.
In the 78th minute, Captain Cong Phuong suddenly entered the penalty area, skillfully eliminated the U19 Laos defender and fired a decisive shot to raise the score to 3-1. Not stopping there, 5 minutes later, Cong Phuong completed his brilliant performance by passing the ball to Phung Van Nam to tap the ball in from close range, setting the score at 4-1 for U19 Vietnam.
Thus, U19 Vietnam ended the U19 Southeast Asian tournament with 4 points after the group stage and was eliminated early. This victory could be a stepping stone towards the 2025 U20 Asian qualifiers./.